Burnout has become a well-recognized term in our modern society. The symptoms experienced are vast and may be physical, psychological, and/or social in nature. While many who have experienced burnout have tried numerous medications, supplements, diets, and therapies to help them function at a personally acceptable level, often, a treatment that works for one person doesn't work for another, forcing us to create our own map back to functional health.

One paradigm that can be used as a guide on the path back to better function is an integrated system used successfully at BodyMind Transformations that can include a wide range of healing traditions and therapies.

In Ayurveda and many other Complementary Alternative Medical (CAM) systems, the first step to any healing process is to stop doing that which causes us harm. For most of us who have experienced burnout, the path begins with rest and an acknowledgement that we will not be the same person that ran us into the ground, but perhaps a more contented and healthier version of ourselves.

The second step is to support the health of our neural pathways. Damaged or underdeveloped neural pathways can affect the function of our organs, our visual/auditory processing, coordination, balance, and the way we interact in the world. Pathways are formed (and pruned) based on what we see, touch, taste, hear, smell, on any trauma we experience, and our sense of safety. Though we can lose the ability to do things we once did easily if the neural pathways are damage by trauma or aren't stressed in positive ways, we can also use various tools to support the correction of damage and provide positive stress to improve the health of our neural pathways. A chiropractor or physical therapist may use adjustments and exercises to correct and strengthen structural anomalies that impinge nerves. A CAM Practitioner may employ therapies and herbs to do the same. Neurodevelopmental exercises, sound therapy and neurofeedback will also affect the neural pathways.

The third step is to address neurotransmitter and bodily systems health. Poor neurotransmitter levels can affect our mood, energy, focus, immune response, sensitivities, sleep, headaches, impulsiveness, motivation, cravings, and more. Bodily systems which aren't functioning well can affect our mental and physical performance. For example, we may eat organic food, but if our digestion is poor, the nutrients can't be absorbed and used by our body. Both Western and CAM systems can be used to address neurotransmitter and bodily systems health. CAM can often address symptoms for which there are no known Western Medical cures. And there are systemic issues for which Western Medicine is still the best alternative.

If there are strong issues with the neural pathways, neurotransmitter health, or physical health, therapies that don't address this will often be unsuccessful or the positive effects won't last.

The fourth step, I'll call "Training." Training refers to the things we can do to improve the communication, stability and flexibility of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and our body once the neural pathways, neurotransmitter, and other bodily systems have become reasonably healthy. This can include a wide range of activities such as psychological or spiritual counseling, Neurofeedback, Sound Therapy, skill based social groups (like Toastmasters), movement forms (like Hatha Yoga and Tai Chi), various forms of meditation, and even those brain games we get for free on the internet that challenge our minds while entertaining us. These are the tools we employ to keep our CNS strong through regular use of all the faculties we would like to keep.

In this paradigm, every path imaginable can be a tool for healing at the right time and place in the process. Everything can be a tool for recovery from burnout.